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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27548455">Songbird vs Rattlesnake</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/CombatBootsandDreams/pseuds/CombatBootsandDreams'>CombatBootsandDreams</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Glow in the dark [12]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>The Magnus Archives (Podcast)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe - Different First Meeting, Angst with a Happy Ending, Blood and Injury, Canon Temporary Character Death, Canon-Typical Violence, Cemetery, Elias Bouchard Being a Bastard, End Avatar Gerard Keay, Existential Angst, Gerard Keay Lives, How Jon died in this AU, Jon is dead and then he is not, Minor canon-typical self worth issues, Monster Jonathan "Jon" Sims | The Archivist, Panic, Pre-Relationship, Stabbing</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-11-13</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-11-13</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 17:48:58</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,665</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/27548455</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/CombatBootsandDreams/pseuds/CombatBootsandDreams</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Jon's dead, then he isn't.<br/>Gerry's dead, then he isn't.<br/>Or: Jon dies, comes back to life, and meets Gerry. Gerry however, was pretty sure he was in a book a couple of minutes ago and very much dead. Now? He's not so sure.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Gerard Keay &amp; Jonathan "Jon" Sims | The Archivist</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Glow in the dark [12]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1924183</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>3</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>90</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Songbird vs Rattlesnake</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Well people, here it is. How Jon died, how Gerry got out of the book, how Jon and Gerry met, and what the fuck Elias is doing in this story besides marrying and divorcing Peter Lukas. Thank you to the people who commented about this. You guys are literally the reason this is coming out now rather than after I procrastinate and eventually write this in a few months, you all rock.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>He was running, it was just so dark. It was dark and he was running as fast as he could but it was just so fucking dark and he didn’t know where he was going and <strong><em>he </em></strong>was going to catch him and couldn’t become another fucking mystery and.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Hello Jon.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Elias stood over him, and while not hard to do with Jon’s rather short stature the knife in the other man’s hand made the threat loom in a way it never quite had before and fuck. He was going to die here, wasn’t he? Just like Gertrude, and no one would know, and no one would care. He would just be another file, another cover-up. Elias breaks him out of his terrified spiral with another step forward.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Don’t worry, you will die, but unlike her, you are going to come back.” The man says like that’s supposed to be comforting or make any type of sense.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Then Elias stabs him through the chest.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>And it hurts. It hurts a lot and what is he going to do? He has to fight but he’s so tired. His chest feels like fire and he can’t breathe and that should be more pressing than sleep right? It hurts though so maybe if he sleeps it’ll hurt less.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“You can’t fall asleep just yet Archivist. Or I suppose you’ll be my Archive soon enough. Do you like the knife? I picked it up from a friend, The Slaughter always makes the most curious weapons.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>What was going on? They were walking, he was in a graveyard and why? What was happening?</p>
<p> </p>
<p>There’s a mausoleum here, but he’s not dead. Why is he being put in a mausoleum?</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <em>Mausoleum| noun</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>A building, especially a large and stately one, housing a tomb or tombs. </em>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Someone <em>something </em>informs him.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Was he really going to die in a mausoleum? It seemed so, it seemed so.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>What was he thinking about again?</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Who was he again?</p>
<p> </p>
<p>The Archivist</p>
<p>
  <em>
    
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <strike>Jon</strike>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    
  </em>
</p>
<p>The Archive</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <strike>Jon</strike>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>The door to the mausoleum opens, and there’s nothing in there but a book. There’s a book, and <strike>Elias</strike> <strike>Jonah </strike><span class="u">The Watcher </span>is behind him and is closing the door?</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“I do hope I see you soon Archivist.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>The door is closed and a tape recorder clicks on. He <em>didn’t have</em> a tape recorder? He has a tape recorder?  He’s holding it but, it wasn’t there before? Right? His chest hurt. It burned and he wondered if this was how victims of The Desolation felt. Everything was hot and cold and pressing and he couldn’t breathe and then his legs gave out. The book was there though? What’s inside the book? It wasn’t bound with any substance he had ever seen before and then, and then. <em>Open the book.</em></p>
<p> </p>
<p>A man comes out. Transparent, like a ghost until he starts to glitch in and out of existence, then stops, fully solid. He’s in black, with long black hair that’s going blond at the roots.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <em>Gerard Keay </em>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Oh, he knew that name from the statements.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Keay looks around confused before his eyes land on him. Then on his chest wound. That still hurts, a lot.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>He seems taken aback for a minute. Then he rushes up and puts The Archivist on his back.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“What’s going on? What did you do?” He asks franticly and he wants to ask what he’s talking about but the words are stuck and.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“How did I get out of the book? Who are you?, What did you do?” He asks rapidly as The Archivist spits up blood.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Nothing, I—I just opened the book and.”  He splutters between bloody teeth.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>That seems to calm him down significantly.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Okay, just forget it. What’s your name?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“The Archi—The Archi.” He couldn’t get the words out. Why couldn’t he get the words out?</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“The Archivist? Well, that means Gertrude’s—What’s your real name?” His voice was soft, kind, unlike how angry he sounded when he was questioning him. It reminded him of Georgie.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Georgie never called him The Archivist. Georgie called him something else. Georgie called him.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Jon, Georgie called him Jon.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>His name was Jon.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <strike>The Archivist</strike>
</p>
<p>
  
</p>
<p>His name was Jon.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <strike>The Archive</strike>
</p>
<p>
  
</p>
<p>
  <em>Jon</em>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Are you still there?” Keay asks.</p>
<p> </p>
<p><em>Jon </em>nods.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Jon, my name’s Jon.” He bubbles smiling slightly.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Well I’m Gerard Keay, but you can call me Gerry.”  Gerry smiles a little bit before frowning again.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Who did this to you, Jon?” He asks and all the softness in his voice goes hard and angry and why was he angry? What did he do? Everything was okay and now he’s gone and made someone mad at him <em>again,</em> and why is everyone always mad at him?</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Gerry seems to figure out that something’s wrong and smiles again. It’s soft and watery but still feels real and Jon relaxes slightly.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Hey, stay with me? I just want to know who did this to you? I want to make sure whoever did this gets in trouble.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Elia—Jo—The Watch—he stabbed” He coughs and the words get all jumbled and why is it getting hard to think?</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Ok, ok, what did he stab you with? There’s a black vein coming out of it.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Something in Jon freeze, because that sounded familiar. A statement, Antoni—no <em>Oliver.</em></p>
<p> </p>
<p>Why did he know that?</p>
<p> </p>
<p>He really was going to die.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“You should go. I—I’m not going to make it out I.” Jon coughs out even though he doesn’t really mean it. If he’s going to die he wants someone holding his hand but, he doesn’t want his last act to be him being a burden. He’s pretty sure Gerry has better things to do than babysitting an almost dead body.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>But Gerry looks confused.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“There’s no way in hell I’m leaving you here to die alone. I did that and, I know I’m a stranger but I’m not letting you die alone.” He says it without a second thought. Like the idea to leave Jon never crossed his mind. The sky was blue, there are 24 hours in a day and Gerard Keay was going to stay. It was nice, even as the world grew colder and darker.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“How long do you think I’ve got?” He doesn’t really know why he asks.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Not long. Can I hold your hand?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Jon nods and coughs more.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“It’s going to be okay. It’s going to be alright. Just close your eyes. Deep breathes okay?” Jon nods everything was so cold. Then darkness, then the nightmares began.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>….</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Gerry wasn’t really sure what to do now. It seemed wrong just to leave the man’s body. It was still warm and Gerry’s hands had blood on them from when he held Jon’s hand and what was he going to do? He didn’t know where he was, or what year it was, or anything really. Now he had a dead body.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>What was he going to do? A tape recorder flipped on and then off again. The one in Jon’s jacket. Like a sign, like something was trying to get his attention.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Okay, fine. Is that the next step here? You want me to give you a statement? Well, fine it can’t make this situation any worse.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Statement of Gerard Keay given whenever the fuck this is and to whoever the fuck hears this regarding his death. I was dead, I was very much dead. Cancer, fairly normal I suppose. I sort of liked that, something normal people get finishing me off instead of something supernatural. Like a haha none of the monsters, or books, or Entities finished me off, I survived all of that but cancer was able to finish me off. Then Gertrude Robinson stuck me in a book and took me back to London. Sounds crazy because how do you get a skin book across customs, but Gertrude always could do what everyone else couldn’t. Like rules were challenges someone made for her to break. Looks like her lucky streak ran out considering the tape recorder I’m using right now came from someone who calls—called himself The Archivist. Wonder how long she’s been dead, wonder how long Jon was on the job. I—I don’t know how I got out of the book. Jon didn’t seem to know either considering how scared he looked, but that could also have been the blood loss.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>All I know is The End finally caught up with me. Maybe all this time avoiding death cursed me. Maybe my luck is the one that ran out because at least Gertrude is still dead, I think. At least she didn’t get brought back with no clue what to do. So, to whoever is listening to this I just died, came out of a book an undetermined amount of time later, and sat with my first bit of human contact in what feels like years as he died on me, painfully, from a chest wound. If you’re in a position to listen to this, I’m so sorry. I’m sorry for what got you here, and I’m sorry for what you did to stay alive, and I’m sorry for what you’re going to have to do to stay alive in this world of monsters. Most of all? I’m sorry for how you die, I’m sorry that no one ends up in a position to listen to this and makes it out okay in the end.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Statement Ends.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Giving the statement actually did make him feel better. Now he was just tired and what was a few more lost hours on a life he no longer knew what to do with?</p>
<p> </p>
<p>He woke up to the static. The loud crackling noise that almost could pass as electricity. It set his hair on end and woke him up with a feeling of dread. Then he saw Jon, who was breathing, asleep but breathing with a large scar where the bloody wound once sat.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Gerry pokes him with a stick and Jon moves. Flinches and sits up hands going to his chest immediately. It was dark outside which means Gerry had slept all day.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“What happened I was, I was dead. Then the nightmares and. What happened?”  He pressed obviously terrified, static leeching off of him.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“I don’t know. You don’t know how I survived and I don’t know how you did. What I do know is we need to get out of here.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Okay, okay, um—you’re an avatar of The End now, I know that if it makes you feel better. It’s a Friday night and you’ve been dead for roughly three years.” He rambles.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“It doesn’t really but thank you for the information. How are you doing?” Gerry asks in the hope to just get him to calm down.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“My boss killed me on a Thursday, in a cemetery, so fuck him I suppose.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Gerry starts laughing, laughing and maybe it’s a little hysterical but Jon looks confused so he has to try and pull himself together.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“You suppose? Your boss stabbed you! Why are you so calm about this?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“I think I’m still in shock. Oh and we can’t be fired or quit so I’m going to have to go back to work with my boss who killed me, and assistants that hate me, no friends, and I try to figure out what the hell just happened and I—what am I going to do?” He looked so small when he said that. Like all of his world just collapsed around him, pressed up again the wall and head in his hands.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Gerry wasn’t good at this. Wasn’t good at comforting people. Neither was Gertrude so they made one hell of a pair, but he could do <em>this</em>, right? Compared to holding the man as he died, keeping him together because he lived seemed like a fairly simple task.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>He got up slowly on shaky legs and walked over before sliding down the wall to sit next to him.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“I don’t have a job, or an apartment, and have most likely been declared legally dead. How about we help each other? It sounds like we both need a friend.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“A friend? That—that sounds, that sounds good.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“We should probably introduce ourselves then.” He says with an attempt at a smile.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“I already know who you are. You’re a rather common name to hear in statements.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Well, that was surprising.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Just humor me, would you?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p>“…Fine.” Jon said in a rather exasperated tone, which was better than the existential crisis tone of three minutes ago by far.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“I’m Gerard Keay, Leitner book burner and former archival assistant. I’m an Avatar of The End and I’ve always wanted my friends to call me Gerry.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Jonathan Sims, Head Archivist of the Magnus Institute. Avatar of Beholding and everyone calls me Jon.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Well very nice to meet you for the second time. Can you stand?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“I think so.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Jon could, actually, with minimal shaking. Which was pretty impressive all things considered.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>They push out of the mausoleum with minimal fan fair. There was a note outside, which Jon rushed to pick up and read.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“That bastard.” He cursed running his hand through his hair.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“He knew, he knew this was going to happen. Says to take the weekend easy but he expects me back on Monday or expect severe repercussions for the health of my staff. I hate him so much.” Jon’s shaking again, worth then he was in the mausoleum, in a dark cemetery covered in blood.</p>
<p>“We do have money for a taxi though which is nice, not sure how we’re going to get one covered in blood in a cemetery, but, we can work on that later.” Jon rambles touching his chest again.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Here, take my jacket, it’s black so the blood already on it won’t show and it’s big enough to cover up the rest of the blood on your shirt.” He says because yeah Jon’s covered in his own blood and Gerry has minimal blood on him and all the blood he does have on him could pass as an un-blood-related stain.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Getting a taxi is surprisingly easy but he’s not complaining. Getting up to Jon’s flat is also surprisingly easy but maybe the universe was deciding not to kick them when they were both already down. There was a box on the front door. Jon opens it with a sigh pulling out presumably his keys, phone, and wallet.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Well, I don’t have to worry about where these went.” He opens the door into a small flat.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Every possible area for shelf space has been taken over by books and papers. It was still clean, just cluttered all to hell.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Sorry, it’s not very impressive.” Jon says quietly grabbing two cups from the kitchen and filling them with water.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“I’ve been in a book for years. I don’t think I complain about where anyone else has been living.” He says rolling his eyes and taking the water.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“What are we going to do now?” Jon asks curling up on the couch.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“I don’t know.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Well, we’ve completed step one. We are both out of the graveyard, I have a flat so our living situation is stable. We’re both not dead, so that’s nice.” Jon says smiling slightly.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Okay, we can start step two tomorrow. Figure out what happened to us, figure out what to do about your boss who’s name is?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Elias Bouchard.” He says clenching his fists slightly.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Okay deal with Bouchard, figure out how we would legally bring someone back to life, any rituals going on?”</p>
<p>Jon shakes his head, “There were rumors about the Unknowing but they’ve all been disproven.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Okay, that’s good. So, let's focus on those things. Then we can just keep going in steps until all our problems have been solved.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Okay.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“We’re still breathing. We can deal with everything else when there’s light outside.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>And that was is, wasn’t it? They were still breathing?</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Everything else could come later.     </p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p>    </p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p>   </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Hey, thanks for reading. I'm not sure if I tagged this right so if you have any suggestions for that leave them in the comments. Comments give me inspiration and truly are the reason this story got written over the past week so thank you so much. Hadestown for the title</p></blockquote></div></div>
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